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The most radioactive object in the restricted area, no children for them I suppose.
E
[The Claw of Death.](https://chernobylstory.com/blog/the-claw-of-death/) You’d be fine in the bucket for over a day before you’d be at elevated risk for anything. I wouldn’t do it, but then I wouldn’t seek out a Chernobyl tour. These two did.
R
From the site: For example, if you take the figure 13 mR / h, then you can get into the bucket and sit there for 38 hours to get some dangerous dose of radiation. You should not do this of course. But many people who come to visit Chernobyl take photos near the claw of death or right in it.
U
13 mR/h for 38 hours is 4 mSv. That’s roughly 1 % of the dose you need to get in a short amount of time to be at risk of symptoms of radiation poisoning, but also roughly a normal *yearly* background radiation dose. So while it’s quite far from being dangerous, it’s also significantly more than normal.
B
not great, not terrible.
J
The reading was 13r /h. It was 15,000. . .
P
It’s 13 MILLI-Röntgen! 13 mr / h is pretty harmless, especially for short exposures. 13 r / h reaches almost LD50 levels for humans in 1 day of exposure.
T
About as much as a chest x-ray
S
So if you’re overdue…
H
[Just a bit odd](https://c.tenor.com/TmbY3Zajl2MAAAAd/tenor.gif)
C
>So while it’s quite far from being dangerous, it’s also significantly more than normal. Which is something you can say word-for-word about any medical x-ray.
R
Most people would agree that getting x-rays for fun is probably a poor decision. They can be worth the calculated risk when they help catch problems.
P
Because the risk is so low. So it is a very easy choice to make. But just doing x-rays for no reason brings 0 benefits. So why bother, even if the risk is extremely low.
L
That’s the equivalent of 2 Head CT scans or something like 200 chest x-rays. Both of which require good justification to perform to minimise unnecessary risks. So a 1 minute photo session in there would less than a 10th of a chest xray. Which really is a lot more negligible than I expected.
H
Nah one acute chest X-ray is about an hour or sitting in there.
S
Weird thing is, farther down the site straight up says it’s not safe. >**Is the Claw of Death safe to visit?** >>As the Claw of Death is still highly radioactive, visitors cannot get too close to it. It is safe to view from a distance, as indicated by tour guides. >**Can I take pictures of the Claw of Death?** >>Yes, it’s generally safe to take pictures of the Claw of Death, but remember to maintain a safe distance and follow the instructions of your guide.
G
Looks like legal speak for “don’t set up a camp and stay for a few days, you fucking tools”.
S
“And don’t try to break off a piece to take home as a souvenir!”
_
Is that a radioactive piece of The Claw of Death in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me,
K
Why can’t it ever be both? 🙂
B
I’m radiating pure joy!
L
Tumor.
Z
“And for the love of God please stop licking it!”
S
Distance matters, but touchijg vs touching matters a few orders of magnitude more. The chance of inhaling and ingesting dust particles that are still stuck to that thing goes up astronomically when you touch the thing, especially if you disturb the dust as much as much as these people must have done when climbing in. Dust particles irradiating your skin from 10cm away until you leave the place would be harmless, even if you stay for 1-2 days, but those same dust particles irradiating your intestines from inside would be much worse than irradiating your skin, and if they get absorbed through the intestine and incorporated into your bones (which would happen to the cesium, which is chemically very similar to calcium) and spend the next 30 years irradiating your red blood stem cells, that would be terrible. Guides need you to stand far enough away that they can see nobody in the group is touching it and can intercept anyone who tries. Somebody walking in an hour after these people have left might actually end up inhaling particles that these people have thrown into the air. That’s probably a good reason to keep a few meters distance rather than cm.
G
I’m kinda surprised they don’t make people wear n95 masks on these tours. Like you said, the danger is much higher if you inhale or ingest radioactive particles. A cheap N95 mask wouldn’t be perfect but it would be a lot safer than nothing
M
But can you lick it like an icecream?
6
Yeah, the gamma’s no big deal for this sort of photo op, but the alpha from any ingested particles is very bad news.
P
It’s another poorly written repetitive article to stretch its length and fluff it up. It feels like it’s been written by an industry person to keep it vague because they want to interest you, but just enough to come see instead of finding a simple answer online.
C
I mean, if a thing is fuckin spicy and is actively dangerous to stay near it too much it’s fair that guidelines will just play the safe game and tell you to not go chill inside that thing in the first place. One can then compute the actual amount of radiation emitted by it and conclude that eeeehhhh you’ll most likely be fine if you dont overdo it.
D
Is that free cancer treatment? American asking.
Z
Yes you can get cancer for free that way
H
Huh, I’ve heard it’s never exceeded 3.6 roentgen. Not great but not terrible.
S
You fool! That’s the upper limit of the doohickey thinger!
D
You’re delusional, report to the infirmary.
C
You really want to trust safety guidelines from the people who brought you,…. well, Chernobyl?
S
Fun fact: flying exposes you to more radiation than you would get on a tour of Chernobyl
S
Fun fact, the airline pilots get FAR more dose than nuclear power plant workers do in the US (and most other countries with even vaguely competent nuclear safety laws). But the amount of dose pilots get is barely anything compared to the dose Astronauts get. Even that is barely anything compared to the dose smokers get (I’m not referring to the other cancer-causing factors in tobacco, I mean ionising radiation dose). Tobacco plants contain (relatively) high amounts of radium which comes from the fertiliser used when they’re farmed. Despite all that, the radiation in cigarettes isn’t even remotely the biggest problem with cigarettes.
A
>Despite all that, the radiation in cigarettes isn’t even remotely the biggest problem with cigarettes. Because the biggest problem with cigarettes is how cool you look while you are smoking one. >!In seriousness though. I really liked your scale of radiation/danger you described.!<
A
> Tobacco plants contain (relatively) high amounts of radium Which then decays to Polonium-210. Yes, [*that*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko) Polonium.
K
So, I can make nuclear weapons with ciggies.
[
No, you’re thinking of Potassium.
P
I thought that was bananas?
U
I, too, thought that was pretty crazy
V
The father of a high school friend of mine was a nuclear sub commander; they got, at the time, the cool little film badges to warn about exposure. He brought one home once on a week’s leave, and by the end of the week it was black from end to end, and he joked about it being safer in the submarine.
S
power plant workers getting less radiation isnt even hard. the plants have multiple levels of shielding so radiation doesnt get out, but they also stop radiation from the outside getting in. its very common to have less radiation inside of a power plant than outside.
G
I need a banana for scale here
P
jesus fucking christ
U
Isn’t the risk with Chernobyl the inhalation of particles or contamination of clothes? You basically take a piece of Chernobyl with you that keeps on poisoning you while the radiation of a flight is contained to specific altitudes.
B
That’s why I only tour naked and fully shaved.
T
Yes. This is the issue. The particles are everywhere. Gamma rays or whatever on a plane don’t follow you home.
S
Yes. And the clothes contamination is bad because people will end up ingesting it later on. Alpha radiation doesn’t penetrate far, so skin is pretty effective protection. Plus, some inhales particles never get pooped out but get incorporated into your bones.
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